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Post by rodw66 on Apr 30, 2009 18:46:17 GMT 10
HUNTINGDALE CARAVANS
Dealer or supplier?
7 Sumersett Avenue, Oakleigh Vic
Has anybody ever heard of this company, it appears I have one, the front has been modifide but rest appears original,and its a bondy and a keeper. I shall post photoes on photo page later. Cheers to all Rod.
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Post by cobber on May 1, 2009 15:07:20 GMT 10
G'day Rod, I think it would be fair to say that we haven't heard of "Huntingdale" caravans and it will be interesting to see photos of the old girl.... particularly as she is a plywood (love plywood 'vans)  I've had a look through the list of manufacturers and suppliers from 1948 to 1962 and "Huntingdale" doesn't get a guernsey in any of them..... it may be another re-badged effort, but that doesn't matter it will be good to see what she looks like. Cobber. |
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 1, 2009 23:28:46 GMT 10
Hi Rod,
As you are probably aware, but people outside Victoria probably won't be, Huntingdale is a Melbourne suburb close to the epicentre of the Victorian caravan industry in the 50's and early 60's - not far from Oakleigh, Caulfield, Burwood, Hawthorn, Camberwell and Greythorn. Many of these locations gave their name to a caravan brand. However, I haven't heard of a van manufacturer going by the name of 'Huntingdale'. That's not conclusive - there's a lot of things I don't know - but my guess is that the Huntingdale label may have belonged to a caravan dealer.
Hopefully the pics of the van you mentioned will tell us more. I look forward to seeing them...
Don Ricardo
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Post by firefighter on May 2, 2009 8:48:53 GMT 10
 Don There was a second hand caravan yard in North rd Huntingdale about 50 yds from the corner of Franklyn St In 1979 I bought a Sunwagon camper van off them and towed it behind my 1939 Chev sedan with 4 young kids & wife to Ayers rock & Alice Springs.... 6 weeks trip & back to melbourne Broke a rear axle in the Chev in the main st of Cooper Pedy f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Franklin1 on May 2, 2009 10:46:19 GMT 10
Google tells me there is also a Huntingdale about 20kms from Perth.
There is no mention of Huntingdale caravans (new or second-hand) in the Sydney archives from 1955 to 1970. Only times Huntingdale Vic gets a mention is when the Golf Championship was held there.
Nothing in the National Library archives either.
cheers,
Al.
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Post by rodw66 on May 3, 2009 13:10:31 GMT 10
Thank-you for all those responses, Im getting the camara out now. Cheers Rod
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Post by rodw66 on May 3, 2009 13:44:07 GMT 10
Here are the photos of this elusive Huntingdale Caravan   This photo shows the front end modification    Partly restored- we're getting there   Tudor stove  Hopefully, now with pictures someone might recognise this and help me determine the vintage. Thanking you all kindly. Rod. |
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 3, 2009 21:34:06 GMT 10
Hi Rod,
Another interesting van you have there, particularly with the frontal mods - looks like somebody decided to pull out the front window and replace it with a smaller version.
Is the rego sticker the only evidence that the van is a Huntingdale? If so, you might need to take that with a grain of salt, just as you need to with the date of manufacture on the sticker - 1900. As you are probably aware when vans were first registered in Victoria in the mid-60's (and probably ever since) the authorities stuck '1900' on the form if the van owner had no proof of date of manufacture. Similarly, I'm wondering whether the authorities might just have grabbed the name 'Huntingdale' from the caravan dealer's sticker if the owner didn't know what brand it was? Don't want to rain on your parade, but it could explain why the Huntingdale name hasn't turned up before.
Hopefully somebody else will be able to make a more positive identification.
Don Ricardo
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Post by Don Ricardo on Aug 8, 2017 11:14:33 GMT 10
Hi all, Back in 2009, Rodw66 told us about his caravan that had been registered as a Huntingdale (see photos higher up this thread). At the time none of us had heard of any Huntingdale branded caravans, and it was suggested that Huntingdale Caravans may have been the name of a caravan dealer in the Huntingdale area of Melbourne (or Perth?), and that the name had been given to the caravan when it was re-registered at some point. Also at the time, Franklin1 did some investigation but couldn't find any references to Huntingdale caravans, and no-one has mentioned them on the forum since as a brand or dealer. Yesterday, having nothing else to do , I searched for a reference to Huntingdale caravans through www.newspapers.com, and came up with the following advert printed in the Melbourne Age in 1957:  (Source: The Age, Wednesday, 23 October 1957, page 19) The advert is only about a single caravan and doesn't give a brand name. But it does tell us that Huntingdale Caravans sold shells, kits and spare parts, so it's possible that Rodw66's van was built using a Huntingdale shell or kit. The advert does also refer to the caravan being advertised as 'factory finish', so that may possibly suggest that Huntingdale also produced some of its own caravans? The advert, as noted, was published in 1957. We don't know how long they were operating for, but for what it's worth, Rodw66's van looks to me more like an early 60's van than a late 50's one. So this doesn't tell us much more about the origins of Rodw66's van, but at least we have confirmation that Huntingdale Caravans was in existence in the vintage era. Oh, and there is one more thing...the advert tells us that they were based in Oakleigh, not Huntingdale, just to confuse those of us who like to make guesses based on flimsy evidence!  Don Ricardo |
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 30, 2020 22:10:42 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Dec 11, 2022 20:54:29 GMT 10
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